Lie Down With Wolves
by bat-hawk
Summary: Derek has been gearing up for a while to ask Stiles something very, seriously important. And intimate. And meaningful. That he hasn't done in years, and that Stiles probably won't understand because he's human. And, okay, it's not actually that big of a deal, it's just that Derek really, really wants to howl with Stiles, and he's kind of terrified that Stiles won't want to.


Silly little thing I wrote after contemplating wolf howls and then listening to _Wolves_ , by Dreamers. It's kinda dumber than I anticipated, and contains more of Derek struggling to use his words than actual howling, but what can you do.

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Derek grabbed Stiles' hand, dragging him off the porch and barreling straight into the woods.

"Woah, slow down there, wolf man! Fragile human here likely to actually break his neck at breakneck speeds!"

Derek gave a put-upon sigh, but he slowed enough that Stiles could keep up for a few minutes before getting completely and totally winded.

"Not that I don't love a good sprint in the woods," Stiles gasped between heaves for breath, "but was there a point to this at all?"

"Fine." Derek yanked them to an abrupt halt. By the time Stiles had regained his balance, his boyfriend was crouched down with his back facing Stiles, throwing an impatient look over his shoulder at Stiles' hesitation.

"Is this.. a piggy-back ride?" Stiles hazarded, a grin growing on his face at Derek's brusque nod. "Really? This is happening? Are you gonna start bouncing off trees next? Take me to a romantic clearing and try to scare me off with feats of strength?" Derek gave a blank look, and Stiles huffed, "really? Twilight, Derek, I swear to God, this is why you need a TV."

"Just get on."

"If you insist." Stiles clambered onto Derek's back, clinging awkwardly to his shoulders as Derek stood, adjusting Stiles to his liking. "You suck the fun out of everything," Stiles grumbled into Derek's shirt.

"You're right," Derek agreed amiably (and Stiles' brain lit up with danger beacons), "like your dick."

Stiles choked a horrified giggle into Derek's shoulder as Derek took off running an a speed only Usain Bolt had previously reached.

It took a lot to tire a werewolf out, even when they were carrying an extra person like a backpack. Derek's chest was heaving under Stiles' hands by the time he finally stopped, and Stiles was as bored as he had even been while having prolonged physical contact with someone he was attracted to.

Derek let Stiles slip from his shoulders, and Stiles raised a judgemental eyebrow when he took in the view spread out below them. "Derek, you brought me to a romantic outcropping. I'm going to warn you right now that I cannot be scared off by your extra special supernatural abilities, and also, stop getting romantic ideas from Edward Cullen. You're creepy enough as it is."

Stiles eyed Derek's exasperated face for a moment. "You haven't actually read Twilight, have you?"

"No, Stiles." Derek rolled his eyes because he was nothing if not a drama king. "I try my best not to torture myself."

Stiles was about to go to town on that statement, because hello, _blatant falsehood_ , but Derek crowded into his space, effectively shutting off most of Stiles' higher mental capacity. "Okay, big guy, let's do this," Stiles breathed instead, getting greedy hands all over Derek, who made a pleased, rumbly sound in his chest as he nosed into Stiles' cheek.

They traded messy kisses for a few long moments, Derek using a little too much tongue the way he did whenever he was hovering closer to the wolf side of the spectrum that the human. Not that Stiles actually minded; he was a huge fan of sloppy Derek kisses.

Derek mouthed his way to Stiles' ear, dragging his lower lip across Stiles' jaw in a way guaranteed to make Stiles shiver.

Derek took a long, indrawn breath, then whispered, "I wanna howl with you," quiet and rushed.

"I don't mind if you do." Stiles tried to move back to get a look at Derek's face, but Derek stayed firmly hidden in Stiles' neck. "Just maybe step back a little first," Stiles tried to joke his way through the sudden tension, "I like my eardrums just the way they are."

Derek's shoulders hunched as he made to pull away; Stiles winced and tightened his grip.

"Hey, don't do that. I don't know what you want, Derek. I'm not exactly equipped to go howling at the moon with you."

Derek nudged his nose up under Stiles' jaw, breathing in like he was about to speak several times before he actually managed it. Stiles had nearly bitten through his own tongue trying to be patient by the time Derek ground out, "You know why wolves howl?"

"To signal their location to the rest of the pack," Stiles recited, "we've been over this before." He squeezed Derek when he tensed up even more at that. Stiles was still absolutely no good with Derek when he got cagy and insecure like this.

"It's not that simple," Derek sighed after another, shorter (thank all the angels in heaven) pause. "Why do packs howl?"

"I dunno," Stiles shrugged, drumming his fingers on Derek's back, "tell other packs to keep away?"

"Sometimes. Most of the time, they do it to, to bond. To reaffirm the pack."

"Okay…" Stiles ran his fingers through Derek's hair, "so you wanna do a bonding howl thing with me?"

"Yes," Derek breathed, tightening his grip.

"You sound, like, super intense right now." Stiles grabbed Derek's shoulders. "Can I look at you?"

Derek moved back reluctantly to look Stiles in the eye.

"Okay, so, is this some sort of important ritual or something?"

"No," Derek looked down, blushing faintly. "I've just wanted to do it with you for a long time."

"To howl with me."

Derek nodded hesitantly.

"Weird, but okay, I can work with weird. You do realize I'm going to sound incredibly, awkwardly, pathetically human, yes?"

"Doesn't matter," Derek shook his head, "you'll get better."

"Did the humans in your, you know, before," Stiles trailed off, rubbing at his ear.

"Yeah," Derek smiled a little (thank god, references to murdered family were iffy on a good day), "every time."

"Okay, great," Stiles spread his hands, "let's do this, you and me, howling, bonding, gonna be great."

Derek looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, no no no, mister werewolf, only one person in this relationship knows how to howl, and it sure as hell ain't me. You are going first."

"Alright," Derek smiled again, then threw back his head and _howled_. Stiles stepped back a little because he had not been kidding about the eardrum thing earlier. "Your turn," Derek prompted when he finished, staring at Stiles with big, hopeful eyes.

Stiles scrunched up his face, put it off for the last couple seconds he could, then squeezed his eyes shut and hopefully let out a sound less like a strangled kitten than Scott's first attempt had been. From the enormous grin on Derek's face when he opened his eyes again, it was a success. "Was it good?"

"It was terrible," Derek beamed. Stiles had to disagree. It had put that expression on Derek's face, hadn't it? Stiles wondered if Derek had ever smiled that big in his entire _life_.

"Well, now you ruined it, Derek. See if I ever howl for you again with this kind of audience."

Derek actually laughed, and Stiles nearly had a heart-attack.

"Come on," Derek reached out to grab Stiles' hands, "together."

"Only if you promise to be nice," Stiles snarked. As if he could say no to anything when Derek looked this happy. He took a deep breath, and let loose when Derek did.

They alternated howling and kissing for a while, stopping occasionally for Derek to just smile helplessly (Stiles was kinda concerned that he had entered a twilight zone, but he was too busy enjoying how involuntarily happy Derek seemed to worry too much about it), until Stiles was in danger of losing his voice.

They sat at the edge of the outcropping, wrapped around each other to watch the moon rise (a waxing gibbous, still a few days off full). Stiles was too giddy to object to the cliche.

"So," Stiles cleared his throat after a long silence, "was that everything you wanted? Fantasies fulfilled?"

Derek smiled against Stiles' shoulder. "Yeah. It was perfect."

"Good. Hate to be anything but."

Derek kissed the side of Stiles' head. Stiles smiled and patted his thigh. "I'm happy to do weird, wolfy things with you, you know."

Derek tightened his grip and whispered, "thanks," hot against Stiles' skin.

Stiles leaned back against Derek's chest, tapping his fingers on Derek's arm for a moment before blurting out, "I can think of a way you can repay me."

Derek rolled his eyes because, you know, drama king. "Lemme guess, more fun sucking?"

"Got it in one," Stiles winked.

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